For services to the crown, I dub thee Sir Robert

I don't know much about honorifics, but they have been doing the rounds here, here and here, gathering some attention in the microcosm of our classroom.

In my brief time of 20-something years, I don't remember anyone ever calling Sir Bob Jones, "Sir Robert". In fact, I always recall him affectionately referred to as "Bob" or "Bob Jones" (I do have one friend who would baulk at me saying "affectionately", but that's because he bothered to read the New Zealand Party manifesto).

Take a look at the TVNZ website - they've got him down in their Good Morning roll call as Sir Bob (they don't even have the Sir in the bio's text), but their latest hard news story (take what you want out of that statement) has him as Sir Robert.

TVNZ isn't the only one - every news service is calling him Sir Robert, yet everyone quoted in these stories calls him Bob. The briefest respite came in Audrey Young's blog, but it was oh so brief.

And it's not that long ago (last month) that Stuff opened one of their articles like this:

Sir Bob Jones is trying to bankrupt a co-founder of failed property investment company Blue Chip by pursuing court action for office rent.

My point (and it is a fairly meek and mild one) is that everyone's calling him Sir Robert as though he's a law lord on the Privy Council breathing fire down the necks of our corrupt politicians and not the cheeky raconteur Sir Bob that the public (thinks it) knows and loves.

While I could rant and rave about how the media is using "Sir Robert" to add gravitas to their claims about the Rt Hon Mr Peters, I really can't be bothered.

And heck, if you go back up a wee ways, you'll see that Sir Bob ain't Sir Robert on wikipedia - and that's saying something.

REDUX: Gots to give some props to the Sunday Star-Times' Donna Chisholm - just noticed she didn't fall into the Sir Robert trap.

Waka ama works for me.

Well, I didn't realise it at the time, but my 28th birthday saw my name in print. My first story published on paper (the one on the gals going to Sacramento for the waka ama world champs) - not the whole thing (that's here), but it's got the byline and that's enough for me (at the moment).

Thanks Mat and the team at the Kapi-Mana News - much appreciated. (Guess that makes me a Fairfax fiend... sigh.)

The art of communication

Went to the Rita Angus exhibition yesterday (still waiting for Te Papa's excellent blog to post on it), and I was going to post on it before I noticed the Greenslade thing, but the writing for the exhibition was fairly vapid.

When I pretend to knowledgeable about art and stand in front of a pretty picture for five minutes thinking to myself I know very little about how impressionists impacted on later modernist artists, I like to get a little education from the curator who has spent a lot of time preparing said exhibition and knows exactly what I don't.

I don't particularly like reading about how the soft rolling hills and sharp mountains of the background are indicative of the spiritual, naturalist, and pacifist beliefs of the artist. Over. And over. And over again. Maybe a comment on how the nature pieces have moved toward the older impressionist movement? Or something about how the artist has played with the audience's perception of depth and why? Or perhaps her relevance in the wider world of art?

I guess that would be thinking too highly of those people who go out of their way to learn a little about the artist and their art. My bad.

12000 miles and they're still quicker

Typical. 12,000 miles away and our colonial masters are still quicker than us.

I'm talking about this lil' piece from NZPA on the Herald's website. Has anyone noticed this in NZ? Maybe, but this link aside, no-one else in Utopia knows that the Daily Chronicle in Horowhenua-Kapiti will probably go from being published five days a week to two and be given away free.

And how did I get on to this - not through my wonderful google reader which has media/journalism stories fed from the Herald website. No, I tip my hat to greenslade and his headline, "New Zealand daily cuts publication", 12,000 miles away on the Guardian's website.

Understandably, the only reason this is making waves down/up there is because the Chronicle's an APN publication and part of the O'Reilly empire (an ongoing saga on greenslade), but with APN's CEO Martin Simons saying, "We have been publishing in the Horowhenua-Kapiti region for 115 years, and we will continue to do so, but the current economics mean we have to change strategies to meet the market," I'd rather see some homegrown comment from people in the know.

The way I see it, it's another sad day for the state of NZ's media. D-Day is August 4 - I will be waiting with baited breath.

A day at the movies

As usual, it’s a little bit late, but I went down to see a couple of movies at the festival on Tuesday, and while I didn’t get around to it on the night (that would be far too organised), I knew straight away that I should really write about them (even though I’m the only one reading it).

First up was The Hollow Men. Yes, I’ve read the book. Yes, I’ve seen the play. And yes, I have now seen the movie. Read the DimPost’s review – I’ve got to say it’s pretty much spot on.
To be honest, it was lacking. A recap of the book with some pretty pictures to go along with it, yadda yadda yadda. I wanted something new, and the endnote that Jonkey was using Crosby Textor didn’t quite do it for me.

I know I was the target audience, and I felt the appropriate moral outrage required of a typical white middle-class liberal (I still do, but that’s another story altogether), but that was part of the issue for me – in taking the moral high ground over emotive messages to influence elections, you should really try and avoid them yourself, something I think both Hager and Barry are guilty of (this isn’t to say that I condone the hatchet jobs levelled at Hager for the last couple of weeks, he's still our best investigative journo, and that’s a topic I eventually plan to get around to).

And I completely agree with Dim on the footage of Peter Keenan – pap filth was what came to mind - not the feeling you want conflicting with that self-righteous satisfaction at knowing the manipulators of the New Right are still out there.

So yeah, disappointing (even if it did strike the right chords with me).

Number two was In Bruges. An excellent flick starring Colin Farrell as an Irish hitman lying low in Bruges (Ralph Fiennes is superb). The violence went a little over the top, but the dialogue was delightful (and cringeworthy at times for a pinko like meself). And it knew how to end itself.
Goddamit, that ending was perfect, and I wish more flicks had that same kind of awareness. If you get the chance, go see it.

REDUX: Had to get in this link, everyone loves validity.

Leaving the limelight for some real power

Well, it's about time - Theresa Gattung is finally out of her sabbatical funk and back on the corporate wagon.

The great thing about this is due her previous life as the top executive of Telecom, we might get some real coverage of how she slots into the back door dealings of the boardroom (I know, I know, it's a stretch). As Chair of PGG Wrightson's and Wool Grower Holdings' The Wool Company, it'll be interesting to see how well she slots into the role - I'd love to see how she handles her directors, 'cos she be a strong woman (and not one I'd be willing to take on).

Gratuitous plug numbers 2, 3 (and kind of 4)

Well, I guess I have to do this one (I tried yesterday, but my stoopid interweb decided not to work): if you have passing interest in the media and how it operates, subscribe to Tuckr. I know what you're thinking, he's his tutor so he's got to do this, but hell, everyone knows you've got to sign up to a site where the author actually knows what they're talking about (a rarity at the moment). Kind of forces us lesser mortals to lift our game as well (three posts on his first day - I think it took me three weeks to manage that effort).

Plug number two goes to Dave Lee dot backslash dot net dot ad infinitum - as most of my friends will tell you, I often lament about anyone who's younger than me (I figure I'm struggling enough so they can't stand a chance), but this guy's summat else. If you just wanna read this one post and nothing else, you'll be the better for it (and able to set up your own news website).


And just for laffs on governance issues, keep an eye on this one. Richard Westlake seems
to know what he's talking about, and I'm coming around to the point of view that what goes on in the boardroom (and occasionally plays out in the media) has as much melodrama as parliament.

Gratuitous plug number 1

I honestly don't know how the real web hacks do it - several posts a day (hell, even one) is a stretch. When was my last one? A few weeks back on Back Benches. If I could keep up with the big boys, I would.

Anyway, got to plug our website NewsWire.co.nz, we're all pretty chuffed with ourselves. First day was the truckers' protest (don't get me started on that - stupidest thing I've ever seen), and we were out in force taking pics and getting the talking heads.

I've still yet to see any coverage on that day that beats Apple Byline's - well done son, well done.

Love-in part two falls to Sandra, who landed our first front page for her ongoing investigation into our roading authorities' disdain for cyclists (maybe I'm being a little unfair there).

And last but not least is our first entry into the annals of media history that is the Dominion Post - kudos to our Anne (with an 'e' no less) for covering our Nic.